Scottish Government issued devices for Scottish Ministers: FOI release

Information requested

1. Whether Scottish Ministers are automatically given a government device upon becoming a Scottish Government Minister, what device this is and if there a policy or standard procedure on how often they are replaced.

2. The number of government-issued devices each Scottish Minister has in their possession. Please provide when each current Scottish Minister was issued with their government-issued device, what the device is and how much it cost. Please also specify if it is a phone, laptop, tablet or other device. Please also list individual ministers who do not have a government device.

3. Whether any Scottish Ministers have lost or damaged beyond repair any previous government-issued device and if so which ministers. Please list any such instances since 1 February 2020.

4. Please list all Scottish Ministers who had a government-issued device(s) between 1 February 2020 to 31 January 2022. This should list every Scottish Minister who was in possession of such a device, the device(s) they had and how much they cost. If there is an overlap between the previous question for some ministers please state so.

5. Please state what happened to Nicola Sturgeon, Jeane Freeman, John Swinney’s government-issued devices, if they had any, when they ceased being Scottish Ministers and what happened to the content on them. For example, where the devices retained for use by other ministers or disposed of and was the data on the device stored by the Scottish Government or destroyed.

Response

I enclose a copy of some of the information you requested.

1. Whether Scottish Ministers are automatically given a government device upon becoming a Scottish Government Minister, what device this is and if there a policy or standard procedure on how often they are replaced.

Scottish Ministers are offered a laptop and a mobile phone from the standard Scottish Government device catalogue upon becoming a Scottish Government Minister. There are standard policies in place that determine how often they are to be replaced.

2. The number of government-issued devices each Scottish Minister has in their possession. Please provide when each current Scottish Minister was issued with their government-issued device, what the device is and how much it cost. Please also specify if it is a phone, laptop, tablet or other device. Please also list individual ministers who do not have a government device.

The table below lists all Scottish Ministers and if they have a Scottish Government issued mobile phone, tablet or laptop according to our records. It has not been possible to include when the device was issued as the specific date a device was issued is not held in our records.

Minister	Current Ministerial Role	SG Mobile	SG Laptop	SG Tablet
Humza Yousaf	First Minister	YES	YES	NO
Shona Robison	Deputy First Minister and Cabinet Secretary for Finance	YES	YES	NO
Angela Constance	Cabinet Secretary for Justice and Home Affairs	YES	YES	NO
Neil Gray	Cabinet Secretary for Wellbeing Economy, Fair Work and Energy	YES	YES	NO
Mairi McAllan	Cabinet Secretary for Transport, Net Zero and Just Transition	YES	YES	NO
Mairi Gougeon	Cabinet Secretary for Rural Affairs, Land Reform and Islands	YES	YES	NO
Angus Robertson	Cabinet Secretary for Constitution, External Affairs and Culture	YES	YES	NO
Michael Matheson	Cabinet Secretary for NHS Recovery, Health and Social Care	YES	YES	YES
Shirley-Anne Somerville	Cabinet Secretary for Social Justice	YES	YES	NO
Jenny Gilruth	Cabinet Secretary for Education & Skills	YES	YES	NO
Siobhian Brown	Minister for Victims and Community Safety	YES	YES	NO
Natalie Don	Minister for Children, Young People and Keeping the Promise	YES	YES	NO
Richard Lochhead	Minister for Small Business, Innovation, Tourism and Trade	YES	YES	NO
Fiona Hyslop	Minister for Transport	YES	YES	NO
Elena Whitham	Minister for Drugs & Alcohol Policy	YES	YES	NO
Tom Arthur	Minister for Community Wealth and Public Finance	YES	YES	NO
Maree Todd	Minister for Social Care, Mental Wellbeing & Sport	YES	YES	NO
Emma Roddick	Minister for Equalities, Migration and Refugees	YES	YES	NO

Minister	Current Ministerial Role	SG Mobile	SG Laptop	SG Tablet
Graeme Dey	Minister for Higher Education, Further Education (& Minister for Veterans)	YES	YES	NO
Gillian Martin	Minister for Energy and the Environment	YES	YES	NO
Jamie Hepburn	Minister for Independence	YES	YES	NO
Joe FitzPatrick	Minister for Local Government Empowerment & Planning	YES	YES	YES
Jenni Minto	Minister for Public Health & Women's Health	YES	YES	NO
Paul McLennan	Minister for Housing	YES	YES	NO
Patrick Harvie	Minister for Zero Carbon Buildings, Active Travel & Tenant's Rights	YES	YES	NO
George Adam	Minister for Parliamentary Business	YES	YES	NO
Christina McKelvie	Minister for Culture, Europe and International Development	NO	YES	NO
Lorna Slater	Minister for Green Skills, Circular Economy and Biodiversity	NO	YES	NO
Dorothy Bain KC	Lord Advocate	NO	YES	YES
Ruth Charteris KC	Solicitor General	NO	YES	NO

While our aim is to provide information whenever possible, in this instance the Scottish Government we are unable to provide for the reasons outlined below.

Exemption 1. The device make and model information including historical information related to laptops and tablets you have requested because an exemption(s) under section(s) 30c (prejudice to effective conduct of public affairs) of FOISA applies to that information.

In considering this exemption we have taken account of the fact that disclosure of information under the FOISA is to “the world at large”, not just to an individual applicant. We are therefore required to consider the effect of releasing the information into the public domain.

We recognise that there is an inherent public interest in openness and transparency regarding the use of Government systems. However, we have to balance this interest with the ability of those conducting Government business to operate safely and securely, as well as to protect our networks and information, all of which is required to enable the conduct of public affairs.

Providing details about the information you have requested into the public domain could subsequently be used by threat actors to evade any controls we might or might not have in place.

We consider that the public interest in ensuring that the security of our systems and processes is not compromised, thereby maintaining ability to conduct affairs of public office, outweighs that of disclosing this information. We have therefore decided to withhold the information.

Exemption 2. The device cost information you have requested because an of exemption under section 33(1)(b) - its disclosure would, or would be likely to, prejudice substantially the commercial interests of any person. “Person” includes a public authority, company and partnership, FOISA applies to that information. The reasons why the exemption applies are explained below.

An exemption under section 33(1)(b) of FOISA applies to the information you have requested. Releasing the requested information would be likely to prejudice substantially the commercial interests of Suppliers. Release of this information within such a fluid marketplace is highly likely to provide an unfair advantage to a competitor which client devices: framework - gov.scot (www.gov.scot) client devices: framework - gov.scot (www.gov.scot) in turn could skew the competitive nature of other procurement exercises.

This exemption is subject to the 'public interest test'. Therefore, taking account of all the circumstances of this case, we have considered if the public interest in disclosing the information outweighs the public interest in applying the exemption. We have found that, on balance, the public interest lies in favour of upholding the exemption to ensure the equal treatment of bidders. We are, however, happy to share a copy of the relevant frameworks entire agreement which has been published as part of the Scottish Government open contracting strategy and this can be found at the link below:

Mobile client device: framework agreement
Web based and proprietary client devices framework
Procurement - mobile voice and data services framework

3. Whether any Scottish Ministers have lost or damaged beyond repair any previous government-issued device and if so which ministers. Please list any such instances since 1 February 2020.

For the specified period we have no recorded loss or damage beyond repair regarding Ministerial devices.

4. Please list all Scottish Ministers who had a government-issued device(s) between 1 February 2020 to 31 January 2022. This should list every Scottish Minister who was in possession of such a device, the device(s) they had and how much they cost. If there is an overlap between the previous question for some ministers please state so.

Based on our records, the table below lists all Scottish Ministers who had a Scottish Government issued device(s) between 1 February 2020 to 31 January 2022. There is no overlap between the previous question (3) for any minister as, according to our records, for the specified period we have no recorded loss or damage beyond repair regarding Ministerial devices.

We can confirm that Ministers have used a range of mobile phones available corporately through our mobile contract, this has in the past included the Samsung J6, iPhone 5S and 7.

Minister	SG Mobile	SG Laptop	SG Tablet
John Swinney	NO	YES	NO
Humza Yousaf	YES	YES	NO
Kate Forbes	NO	YES	NO
Fiona Hyslop	YES	YES	YES
Shirley-Anne Somerville	NO	YES	NO
Fergus Ewing	YES	NO	YES
Roseanna Cunningham	NO	YES	NO
Jeane Freeman	NO	YES	NO
Michael Matheson	NO	YES	YES
Aileen Campbell	NO	YES	YES
Keith Brown	NO	YES	YES
Angus Robertson	NO	YES	NO
Shona Robison	NO	YES	NO
Mairi Gougeon	NO	YES	NO
Maree Todd	NO	YES	NO
Richard Lochhead	YES	YES	YES
Ben Macpherson	NO	YES	NO
Ash Regan (Denham)	NO	YES	YES
Ivan McKee	NO	YES	NO
Christina McKelvie	NO	YES	YES
Joe FitzPatrick	YES	YES	NO
Clare Haughey	NO	YES	NO
Paul Wheelhouse	NO	YES	NO
Kevin Stewart	YES	YES	YES
Jenny Gilruth	YES	YES	NO
Angela Constance	NO	YES	NO
George Adam	NO	YES	NO
Tom Arthur	NO	YES	NO
Lorna Slater	NO	YES	NO
Mairi McAllan	YES	YES	NO
Patrick Harvie	NO	YES	NO
James Wolffe QC	YES	YES	NO
Dorothy Bain KC	NO	YES	NO
Ruth Charteris KC	NO	YES	NO
Derek Mackay	NO	YES	NO
Neil Gray	NO	YES	NO

While our aim is to provide information whenever possible, in this instance the Scottish Government we are unable to provide for the reasons outlined below.

Exemption 1. The device make and model information including historical information related to laptops and tablets you have requested because an exemption(s) under section(s) 30c (prejudice to effective conduct of public affairs) of FOISA applies to that information.

In considering this exemption we have taken account of the fact that disclosure of information under the FOISA is to “the world at large”, not just to an individual applicant. We are therefore required to consider the effect of releasing the information into the public domain.

We recognise that there is an inherent public interest in openness and transparency regarding the use of Government systems. However, we have to balance this interest with the ability of those conducting Government business to operate safely and securely, as well as to protect our networks and information, all of which is required to enable the conduct of public affairs.

Providing details about the information you have requested into the public domain could subsequently be used by threat actors to evade any controls we might or might not have in place.

We consider that the public interest in ensuring that the security of our systems and processes is not compromised, thereby maintaining ability to conduct affairs of public office, outweighs that of disclosing this information. We have therefore decided to withhold the information.

Exemption 2. The device cost information you have requested because an of exemption under section 33(1)(b) - its disclosure would, or would be likely to, prejudice substantially the commercial interests of any person. “Person” includes a public authority, company and partnership, FOISA applies to that information. The reasons why the exemption applies are explained below.

An exemption under section 33(1)(b) of FOISA applies to the information you have requested. Releasing the requested information would be likely to prejudice substantially the commercial interests of Suppliers. Release of this information within such a fluid marketplace is highly likely to provide an unfair advantage to a competitor which client devices: framework - gov.scot (www.gov.scot) client devices: framework - gov.scot (www.gov.scot) in turn could skew the competitive nature of other procurement exercises.

This exemption is subject to the 'public interest test'. Therefore, taking account of all the circumstances of this case, we have considered if the public interest in disclosing the information outweighs the public interest in applying the exemption. We have found that, on balance, the public interest lies in favour of upholding the exemption to ensure the equal treatment of bidders. We are, however, happy to share a copy of the relevant frameworks entire agreement which has been published as part of the Scottish Government open contracting strategy and this can be found at the link below:

Mobile client device: framework agreement
Web based and proprietary client devices framework
Procurement - mobile voice and data services framework

5. Please state what happened to Nicola Sturgeon, Jeane Freeman, John Swinney’s government-issued devices, if they had any, when they ceased being Scottish Ministers and what happened to the content on them. For example, where the devices retained for use by other ministers or disposed of and was the data on the device stored by the Scottish Government or destroyed.

When Ministers stand down from office, they hand their SG laptop, and any other SG issued IT equipment (including phones) to their Private Secretary (PS). The PS then hands that IT equipment to the Ministerial Private Office team. For the three departing Ministers referenced in the request, the IT equipment was processed in line with SG guidance by their private offices. Scottish Government issued laptops are designed to store SG corporate data on our central systems. The return of these laptops does not affect this data.

About FOI

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